Exco backs relocation of high-rise projects from Central to Wan Chai

The Executive Council yesterday approved harbourfront development changes in which 58,000 square metres of commercial use floor area, earmarked to be constructed at a prime site in Central, have been relocated to Wan Chai.

The government wants to move hotel and office developments adjacent to Two IFC to the area in front of Citic Tower in Wan Chai.

With the commercial high-rise buildings gone, two, two-storey blocks of buildings for retail, restaurant and exhibition uses would be built near the Central piers, the Development Bureau said yesterday. One and a half extra commercial floors for dining and retail would be added above Central piers four to six.

A six-storey block, housing cultural activities and shops, would be erected north of Two IFC by a public-private partnership.

The reduction of commercial floor area in Central would be compensated for by developments in Wan Chai. They would come in the form of a hotel and an office building from 13 to 16 floors high with a total gross floor area of 58,000 square metres, a bureau spokeswoman said.

The change of use from government to commercial in Wan Chai would not affect views and the government was not breaking any laws in doing it. 'The density of the development and the maximum height would be the same as before the change of land use,' she said.